Robertson is a former deputy chief of staff for Rockefeller. His lobbying clients this year, according to federal records, include America’s Health Insurance Plans, the Association of Global Automakers, Berkshire Hathaway, the National Rifle Association, JCPenney, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, PepsiCo, Porsche and YUM! Brands, which operates restaurants such as Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Taco Bell. See the invitation here: http://bit.ly/RiSlGU

MUPPETS, 2; SUPER PACS, 0:Big Bird got another mention Tuesday in the second of three presidential debates. But for the second debate in a row, neither President Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney made material mention of the Citizens United decision, outside spending groups, lobbyists or campaign finance policy in general during what’s easily the most expensive and political advertising-dominated election in U.S. history.

Perhaps that’s not surprising, given the array of issues — jobs, economics, health care, immigration — playing starring roles in the presidential election. Like gay marriage and global warming, however, campaign money (and the candidates’ relentless pursuit of it) appears to be an issue Romney and Obama aren’t itching to press during their time sharing the same stage. And with their third debate focused on foreign policy, it’s more than feasible that four-and-a-half hours of debating will pass without the candidates ever addressing the matter.

BP PAC HAS BIGGEST MONTH SINCE GULF OIL DISASTER: In September, the PAC for BP North America spent more money than in any month since the Deepwater Horizon explosion in April 2010, new federal filings show.

The PAC spread $103,250 among 46 congressional candidates ( http://bit.ly/Wnrj75), including House Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), who represents an oil-rich state with high business importance to BP. The BP PAC also made donations in September to dozens of state-level candidates, primarily in Indiana and Oregon ( http://bit.ly/QrOLcd), and ended September with more than $273,000 cash on hand.

DSCC’S ‘TRIPLE MATCH’ MYSTERY: It’s a curious political sales pitch: Donate money to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and it will “triple match” any donation you make by the end of today. “Can you give $5 before the final deadline in 24 hours? It will be matched 3-to-1,” DSCC official Anna Chu wrote to supporters last night: http://ow.ly/i/122tT

What goes unsaid: Who’s doing the matching? Neither the solicitation nor the online donation form offers detail. It seems rather unlikely that the DSCC would match donations to itself with its own cash — pretty much defeats the purpose of collecting contributions in the first place. Meanwhile, federal law restricts national party committees to accepting a maximum of $30,800 per year from individuals, meaning it’d be illegal for a private individual to triple match large contributions.

National party committees may transfer unlimited amounts of money to other national party committees, but there’s no indication that the Democratic National Committee or others are engaged in any such arrangement. The DSCC did not return several phone messages and emails seeking explanation.

A steady Wednesday to you, PI Nation. Most anyone living on the Left Coast will remember that 23 years ago today, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake rocked San Francisco and the greater Bay Area, killing 63 people, injuring thousands of others and causing billions of dollars worth of damage. Earthquakes were certainly on the minds of politicians yesterday, too, when a small temblor shook southern Maine and eastern Massachusetts. It prompted former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer to tweet: “I think the odds that Romney wins a debate twice in a row are as likely as an earthquake hitting Boston tonight.”

Thanks very much for reading, and now, back to the day’s top influence industry news …

** A message from the Alliance for Home Health Quality & Innovation: Ensuring patients receive care in the most clinically appropriate and cost-effective setting can significantly reduce Medicare spending and extend the solvency of the Medicare program. Find out more at www.ahhqi.org. **

WELD TO ML STRATEGIES: Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld has left McDermott Will & Emery to join Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovskyand Popeo and ML Strategies in Boston.

PATTERN ENERGY REGISTERS TO LOBBY: Wind energy developer Pattern Energy is registering an in-house lobbying team for the first time. Jaime Steve, director of government relations, will lobby on wind and renewable energy issues, according to a recent Senate filing. Capitol Tax Partners and Chadbourne & Parke most recently lobbied for the company.

POWERS MOVES UP IN COSMETIC AND PERSONAL CARE GROUP: The Personal Care Products Council today announced it has promoted Lisa Powers from vice president to senior vice president in charge of the organization’s public affairs and communications division. Powers previously worked at the Mercury Group.

ALLEN WEST PLAGUED BY SCAM PACS: There’s a new kind of super PAC popping up in this year’s campaign: SCAM PACs. And they’re driving Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), for one, crazy. Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns with the story: http://politi.co/S33P3L

EMBATTLED RICHARDSON OUT OF MONEY: Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.) raised almost no campaign cash during the year’s third quarter as ethics scandals continue to dog her. Jessica Meyers reports: http://politi.co/RCVFQe

O’DONNELL’S PAC MAKING BANK ON SUPPORTERS’ PERSONAL INFO: The political action committee of former Senate candidate and tea party favorite Christine O’Donnell is brewing big bucks by renting supporters’ personal information to political fundraising and advertising companies. While renting supporter lists isn’t uncommon, it’s rare when a committee relies on the practice for the vast majority of its income. Dave has the details: http://politi.co/SZqoTj

PANDIT CATCHES D.C. BY SURPRISE: Ben White and Anna have the scoop on how Citigroup's CEO Vikram Pandit operated in more of an ambassadorial role and how new CEO Michael Corbat is an unknown commodity inside the Beltway. Click here for the full story: http://politi.co/PBSLw2

AUDIO … PI ON THE AIRWAVES: Dave joined the Jim Bohannon Show last night to analyze the second presidential debate. Start the clip at the 40:30 mark: http://bit.ly/R9CRpQ

ELSEWHERE IN THE INFLUENCE WORLD:

-- The Huffington Post’s Paul Blumenthal found that the majority of the $180 million spent earlier this month by independent groups was by groups that would not have existed or been allowed to spend money on direct electoral efforts before the Citizens United decision. http://huff.to/Rzm5PB

-- The “Adelson phenomenon” is spreading among donors as they cut large checks to super PACs, reports Nicholas Confessore of The New York Times. http://nyti.ms/XkicSG

Biersack Government Relations Team LLC: Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock: CARFAX Inc.

Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock: Cisco Systems Inc.

Jenkins Hill Consulting LLC: STG Aerospace Inc.

Kadesh & Associates LLC: Chuckwalla Farm Land LLC

O'Neill and Associates: KV Pharmaceutical Company

Pattern Energy: Pattern Energy

Ron Kendall & Associates: Cafferty Commercial Services

** A message from the Alliance for Home Health Quality & Innovation:

According to estimates, the Medicare Trust Fund will become insolvent by 2024. New landmark research from the Clinically Appropriate and Cost-Effective Placement (CACEP) Project demonstrates that innovative models for Medicare post-acute care delivery could potentially reduce spending by as much as $100 billion and extend the Medicare Trust Fund by two and a half years.

Reforms to ensure that Medicare patients discharged from the hospital are served in the most clinically appropriate, cost-effective settings can improve quality and efficiency, streamline care transitions and strengthen care coordination across care settings.

The CACEP final report also points out opportunities for Medicare savings through better care management to reduce avoidable hospitalizations and readmissions.

Visit www.ahhqi.org to access the study and learn more about opportunities for strengthening the Medicare program for America’s seniors, fostering the delivery of quality care and reducing Medicare costs. **

Authors:

About The Author

Anna Palmer is a senior Washington correspondent for POLITICO and co-author of POLITICO’s Playbook, the most indispensable morning newsletter for the biggest influencers in politics.

Anna covers the world of Congress and politics, and has successfully chronicled the business of Washington insiders for years. Her stories take readers behind the scenes for the biggest fights in Washington as well as the 2016 election.

Prior to becoming POLITICO’s senior Washington correspondent, Anna was the co-author of the daily newsletter, POLITICO Influence, considered a must-read on K Street.

Anna previously covered House leadership and lobbying as a staff writer for Roll Call. She got her start in Washington journalism as a lobbying business reporter for the industry newsletter Influence. She has also worked at Legal Times, where she covered the intersection of money and politics for the legal and lobbying industry, first as a staff writer and then as an editor.

A native of North Dakota, Anna is a graduate of St. Olaf College, where she was executive editor of the weekly campus newspaper, the Manitou Messenger. She lives in Washington, D.C.

About The Author

Dave Levinthal reports on political influence issues for POLITICO. Before joining POLITICO, Dave worked for two years as editor of OpenSecrets.org at the Center for Responsive Politics, where he oversaw the Center's original journalism and provided analysis to hundreds of television, radio and print news outlets.

Between 2003 and 2009, Dave reported on Dallas City Hall for The Dallas Morning News, and from 2000 to 2002, covered the New Hampshire Statehouse for the Lawrence (Mass.) Eagle-Tribune. He graduated from Syracuse University with degrees in newspaper journalism and political philosophy and edited The Daily Orange.

Some may argue, but there is no more dedicated Bills fan than this Buffalo, N.Y., native.